Department profile

Career (Paid)EMS Provider

Abilene Fire Department

Abilene, TX · Taylor County. Abilene Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department, 8 stations and 178 total personnel. The department also provides EMS services. According to the HIFLD fire-station federal registry (as of 2026-09), full equipment, coverage, and staffing data are below.

178
Total personnel
8
Stations
Not reported
Fire trucks
Yes
EMS service

The verdict

Abilene Fire Department pairs top-1% national personnel with a headcount more than double the Texas average.

Top 1%
national personnel size
+424%
vs. Texas average
8
stations
$1,867,025
FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record

National percentile ranks this department's personnel headcount against every listable U.S. department with reported staffing; the state comparison uses the same personnel figure against its own state's average. Both feed the verdict sentence and the chips above.

C
PlainFireData Composite Score
45/100
Abilene Fire Department

A staffing, equipment, EMS-integration, and federal-grant-funding composite benchmarked against every other USFA-registered department nationally, not a safety rating, response-time measure, or comparison of fire risk. Dimensions with no data on file are excluded and their weight redistributed, never counted as zero.

Staffing capacity C
22.3 personnel per station (national median 23.5)
Equipment readiness
No vehicle count on file for this department
EMS integration
No EMS staffing breakdown on file
Federal investment C
$10,489 in AFG grant funding per staff member (national median $11,875, among departments with a grant on file)
178 personnel · 8 stations

Abilene Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Abilene, TX (Taylor County), with 8 stations and 178 total personnel. According to HIFLD fire-station registry fields; among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel it ranks #290 of 22,440. Cumulative FEMA AFG/SAFER awards on record: $1,867,025.

  • National personnel rank #290 of 22,440
  • TX personnel rank #25 of 1,231
  • 4.49 stations per 100 personnel
  • EMS provider (HIFLD)
  • 10 other listed departments in Taylor County

Abilene Fire Department vs. the national personnel distribution

Where this department's HIFLD-reported staffing sits among every listable U.S. fire department

178 Top 1% higher than 99% of 22,440 departments

Listable U.S. fire departments, banded by total personnel

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more departments. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source HIFLD fire-station registry · 2026-09-06

Dispatch plate

Sheet WC701 · Abilene Fire Department, TX 178 personnel · 8 stations

PERS-MID · STA-MULTI · TYPE-CAREER · EMS-Y · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · FEMA-MID · BOOK-FULL

  • PERS-MID 178
  • STA-MULTI 8 stations
  • TYPE-CAREER Career
  • EMS-Y EMS on file
  • RANK-TOP #290
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Naval Air Station…
  • FEMA-MID $1.9M
  • BOOK-FULL 5/5 fields

Nearest personnel peer: Naval Air Station Whiting Field Fire Department, FL (+ 0 personnel)

Career/paid HIFLD roster counts, station rows, EMS flag, listable personnel rank, photo-finish peer, and FEMA AFG/SAFER book for this FDID, not a readiness rating.

Personnel neighbourhood

Nationwide HIFLD headcount poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every TX department.

Department Profile

Type
CAREER
Location
Abilene, TX
FDID
WC701

FEMA Grant History

$1.9M
Cumulative funding (FY2017)
1
Awards
Year Award Amount
2017 EMW-2017-FH-00292 $1,867,025.3

Source: USAspending.gov (CFDA 97.044 AFG / 97.083 SAFER)

Staffing vs the Texas average

How Abilene Fire Department's personnel count compares to the typical department in Texas. In-state it ranks #25 of 1,231 by personnel among listable departments with reported staffing. Nationally it ranks #290 of 22,440 on the same basis as the largest-departments ranking.

▲ 424% above the state average
Stations
8
State fire deaths/yr
241
TX departments
1,879

County roster weight

Abilene Fire Department carries 49.0% of Taylor County HIFLD personnel

Among 13 listed departments (363 personnel), this FDID is the plurality weight, while volunteer departments are 69% of the county count. County / state rollup.

4.49 stations per 100 HIFLD personnel (8 stations / 178 roster).

Photo-finish peer: Naval Air Station Whiting Field Fire Department, FL (+0 personnel).

Nearby Departments

Buffalo Gap Volunteer Fire Department
Buffalo Gap · volunteer
Hamby Volunteer Fire Department
Abilene · volunteer
Jim Ned Volunteer Fire Department
Tuscola · volunteer
Merkel Volunteer Fire Department
Merkel · volunteer
Potosi Volunteer Fire Department
Abilene · volunteer
All TX departments →

Nationwide career peers near 178 personnel

Photo-finish and same-type HIFLD neighbours for this FDID, not a reprint of every TX department.

Naval Air Station Whiting Field Fire Department, FL 178 Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, MD 179 Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, SD 177 Wilmington Fire Department, DE 177 Pasadena Fire Department, CA 179 Kent Fire Department, WA 176 Reedy Creek Emergency Services, FL 180 City of Bayonne Fire Department, NJ 180

Frequently Asked Questions

How many firefighters does Abilene Fire Department have?

Abilene Fire Department has 178 total personnel according to HIFLD data. This is 424% above the Texas average of 34 per department. Among listable U.S. departments with reported personnel, it ranks #290 of 22,440 by total personnel (same basis as the largest-departments ranking). Within TX, it ranks #25 of 1,231 by personnel.

Does Abilene Fire Department provide EMS services?

Yes, Abilene Fire Department provides Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in addition to fire response.

How many fire stations does Abilene Fire Department operate?

Abilene Fire Department operates 8 fire stations.

What type of fire department is Abilene Fire Department?

Abilene Fire Department is a Career (Paid) department serving Taylor County, TX. Career departments employ full-time paid firefighters.

Has Abilene Fire Department received federal grants?

Yes, Abilene Fire Department has received 1 FEMA grant totaling $1,867,025.3 in cumulative AFG and SAFER awards across FY2017 (sum of all recorded award years, not a single-year figure). The most recent award year in our extract is FY2017.

How many fire departments are in Texas?

Texas has 1,879 fire departments with 63,369 total personnel. 58% are volunteer departments.

Related guides

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Verify with USFA/FEMA →

HIFLD/USFA registry extract, informational only, not a readiness rating.